>> this is bbc world news. funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers work hard to know your business, offering specialized solutions and capital to help you meet your growth objectives. we offer expertise and tailored solutions for small businesses and major corporations. what can we do for you? >> and now, bbc world news. >> welcome to "gmt."

george alagiah live from beijing. the handover of power in the world's most populous country has begun. out the when president hu jintao says -- threatened by inequality and corruption. >> if we fail to hand the corruption it could be fatal to the party and cause the fall of the state. >> i am david eades in london. also today -- barack obama back on familiar territory after his election triumph, but staring over a cliff with the countries finances. king of the road -- wiggins,

toward france champion, knocked off of his bike. >> welcome to beijing where the process of installing the man who will lead this nation of 1.3 billion people over the next 10 years has begun. thousands of delegates from the communist party, the only party allowed here, of course, have gathered at the great hall of the people up the road. it comes at a crucial time. china's meteoric economic rise has meant a better life for hundreds of millions of people. but also creating huge inequalities. the outgoing president hu jintao admitted corruption was still a big problem and he says the failure to tackle it could prove failed -- fail to the party. here is our beijing correspondent, martin patients. >> they came from across china, hand-picked delegates from the communist party more than 80 million strong. the opening of the party congress marks the start for

china's leadership change. it is political theater on a grand scale and designed to showcase unity. after a decade in power, president hu jintao is stepping down. his outward style has not always one him public affection but under his leadership china has become the world's second- largest economy. as he was speaking, his successor, james ting, looked on. surrounded by former leaders -- xinping. president's hu spoke of the country's achievements but one corruption could prove fatal to the party. >> we must maintain a tough position in cracking down on corruption at all times and conduct a thorough investigation into major cases. all of those who violate party discipline and state laws, whoever they are, must be brought to justice without

mercy. >> away from the congress, normal life continues. in china, the party decides. the public has no say. the future of a billion-plus people will be decided by just a handful of men. this woman says that president hu has done a great job and she is confident he will pick the right successor. but this man does not want to talk about politics. he says he will get in trouble as soon as we leave. it is a reminder that despite all the remarkable changes, china remains and authoritarians state. but with growing expectations but -- communist party was under great pressure to deliver. china may be richer that was 10 years ago but it is not necessarily better off. there is growing public resentment here over the official corruption and the yawning gap between rich and

poor and how the new leader's address these issues were -- will almost certainly defined a decade in power. bbc news, beijing. >> the congress here is a carefully choreographed event with the media and internet tightly controlled. human-rights groups say more than 100 dissidents have been illegally detained or placed under house arrest. but there is one corner of the country that does enjoy a certain freedoms. as our correspondent in hong kong explains. >> hall, activists demanding a transition to full democracy -- this is probably the only such protest permitted on chinese soil as thousands of communist party members gather in beijing. on the same day the 18th party congress met in beijing this group of lawmakers and activists presented a list of 18 of their demands.

which include freeing of the imprisoned noble prize winner and guaranteeing the freedom of speech and assembly for all and in china. the protest comes amidst a year of heightened tensions between hong kong and its mainland rulers. >> there are no political reforms at all. we only see regression in human rights. we only see regression in democracy. and we feel that this, this party now is only tightening up the suppression of human rights, tightening up suppression of freedom of speech. the above those rights are protected here. this was the scene -- in >> this is the scene back in july when hu jintao visited on the 15th anniversary of hongkong's return to china. the old colonial flag is a visible sign of rising discontent in a city with calls of one-person, one-vote, grow stronger every year. the chinese government says this city make it universal suffrage

as early as 2017. but despite talk about the importance of political reform by mr. hu, the lack of progress in china itself means many people question the sincerity of that promise. that is why the activists are targeting beijing's liaison office in western hong kong to protest when that party will. the mistrust of government stands at the highest level in more than a decade. and the bad feeling is likely to continue as long as china hold onto its authoritarian ways. bbc news, hong kong. >> that is the situation in hong kong. elsewhere, four tibetans have set themselves on fire in a protest against chinese rule. according to the organization free tibet, the 15-year-old tibetan monk has died -- they set themselves a light in

zeshan province where many self immolations have taken place. let's talk about the speech given today, early this morning, by president hu jintao. to discuss it with me, i have a senior china economist with ihhs global. like anybody else, i am sure you have been digesting the speech. what do you make of that? >> not the time for hu jintao to come up with grant new policy measures, it is the end of his term. to recap and make a stamp on his legacy. >> very early on in his speech he started talking about corruption, the inequality of wealth. has anything changed over his 10 years? >> in terms of corruption, it is very difficult not to address corruption demanding bo xilai

scandal and "the new york times" piece on both wealth of wen jiabao. benowitz they disputed. but he came in in that early 2000's, 10 years. scientific development -- all of those metrics, china has gone back or even as it become a world economic power. >> he was talking about his legacy. actually in many ways he was laying out the job that needs to be done by his successor. >> the guys will take the stage next week -- face a huge challenge. clearly to the get reform is needed to be both economic, financial, exchange rate, but political reform. to put it on a more sustainable path.

>> he kept talking about scientific developments. for those of our viewers around the world, what does that actually mean? >> each over the last three administration they each have that their watchwords and scientific development is really the hu jintao stamp. it is about the transition to a healthier type of growth -- new innovation, better quality of education. it goes hand-in-hand with this concept -- reducing the rich- poor divide, the urban-rural divide. unfortunately these miniature, gone backward. they sat out the areas they should have addressed during the time but have not adjust, -- >> moving on from making things too, what, inventing things, creating things? is that the goal? >> that is the goal. china is the number one workshop in the world. the goal is to bring it up the

value chain. some of them moved inland to help develop the port and rural areas. it is about better quality of work. >> as an economist, what would you say is needed if you are going to make a transition from the workshop of the world to being the creator? >> it is reform. and the biggest -- the role of state in the economy. a crossroads. the government needs to pull back out of the economy and let the market do its job. i think unfortunately they drew more lessons from a financial crisis -- they realized with a strong state -- it would be the detriment to china in the long term. >> all right, thank you very much. thank you for your time here on

"gmt." you can find out much more of course on a website, as the ruling party prepares to hand over power to a new generation of leaders, as we have just been hearing. we take a look at some of the key issues that are going to be faced with. on our website, bbc.com/news. that is all from me from beijing. david, back to you >> george, very interesting. george alagiah in beijing. no honeymoon, no time to kick back and enjoy the election victory because of a straight back to business for president obama. on top of his agenda, avoiding the so-called fiscal cliff, the round of tax rises and spending cuts which will be triggered just a few weeks' time. if a budget deal is not reached with the republicans. this report from washington. >> the president returns to

washington, for the white house for four more years. he visited his campaign workers to thank them and many here are marveling about the effectiveness of his get-out- the-vote effort. that you washington, well, politics and an urgent task for the reelected president -- what to do about the so-called fiscal cliff? massive automatic tax rises and spending cuts are imminent unless republicans in congress in the president can agree on how to avert them. >republican leaders expressed willingness to compromise. >> mr. president, this is your moment. we are ready to be lead. not as democrats or republicans, but as americans. we want you to leave it -- not as a liberal or conservative, but as president of the united states of america. >> and the markets were paying attention. big finance fears that this booklet and worries congress will not at the time to avert it. the dow jones index fell

heavily. if america's politicians cannot find some way forward on this complex budget issue, the consequences look pretty bleak. it may be the global financial markets step in and force america's politicians to stop squabbling and start governing. adam brooks, bbc news, washington. >> time to take a look at some of the other stories making headlines around the world. we start in afghanistan. at least 18 people killed in three separate attacks in the country. 10 people, two of them children, were killed when a minibus blow up in helmand province. and a minivan blowing up led to the deaths of several afghan soldiers. in canada are in the city, at least three policemen were killed by a suicide bomberi suiciden kandahar. syrian president bashar al-assad again refused to be forced from power. he says he will live and die in syria. in an interview with russian tv

the president vowed to stay in the country, saying he was not a puppet of the west. it comes just days after british prime minister david cameron suggested the syrian leader could be allowed safe passage out of the country if it would guarantee an end to the violence. as for the red cross, it says it is struggling to cope with the crisis in syria. the head of the international aid agency said the humanitarian and tuition in the country is only getting worse despite the scope of operation increasing. an unknown number of people not getting the aid that they need. the greek parliament has narrowly approved a new austerity measures to secure the next round of international bailout funds. it means more deeper cuts to pensions and tax rises -- a demonstration outside parliament turned violent as frustration grows at the scale of the cuts being imposed on public-sector workers in particular. hitting a cyclist is every

driver's nightmare but of all the cycle as you may wish to avoid, i would itour de france champion would be the list. bradley wiggins, and the north of england. wiggins, a strong campaigner for bicycle safety and bicycle helmets was taken to the hospital but his injuries are not thought to be serious. he is expected to make a series -- speak recovery. the person who works near the scene described what she saw. >> very unsettled. even that sloan speed -- obviously bradley was a -- is a world champion and he would have been going at speed. both of them hitting each other would cause a lot of pain for him. it was mainly his ribs more than anything -- he was holding his ribs. his breathing was not the best obviously.

and his color did change quite a lot -- he did go quite pale, as slightly light blue really. >> which does not sound good. but he is going to be ok, we understand. still to come on "gmt," barely a week after super storm sandy, thousands of homes plunged back into darkness with a fresh storm hitting the east coast. almost 50 people killed and many more missing after a strong earthquake off of guatemala's pacific coast. the number of deaths is likely to rise as emergency workers came through the debris. our central america correspondent in neighboring mexico city where there were tremors. >> this was the largest earthquake in guatemala since 1976. such was its power that it sent residence and office workers running into the streets as far away as mexico city. in the guatemalan capital, guatemala city, the impact was

much greater. dowling masonry and damaging buildings. the country's civil emergency authorities immediately issued a national alert and the president told people to stay outside of their crack homes for fear of aftershocks. >> any time we have an earthquake of this magnitude, there is a very high risk of after shocks. there have already been 5. there could be after shocks that could have the intensity to cause more damage to the population that has already been affected. >> the real devastation, however, took place near the epicenter of the pacific coast in the border region of san marcos. there, is school collapsed and a number of people were killed when their homes crumbled beneath the quake. there are fears many others may still be trapped beneath the rubble. mudslides have cut off roads and communication, complicating further the rescue effort.

emergency shelters have been set up to house those affected. while the people of central america are used to these seismic events, in areas where the infrastructure is weak and homes are poorly constructed, there was little people could do to get out in time. authorities are now racing to save as many of those in danger as possible. will grant, bbc news, mexico. >> this is "gmt" from bbc world news. i am david eades. top story -- china begins the process of handing over power to a new generation of leaders. the outgoing president calls for an end to corruption. a look at the business news. the world is watching -- when the second-biggest economy is changing leadership. >> absolutely right. economic growth is at the

forefront of discussion in beijing at the moment. growth in the country has slumped to a three-year low. mr. hu already talked about boosting domestic consumption to offset the dramatic decline in exports that we see. he talked about the need to move the yuan to a more market-based exchange rate. but one country and particularly we will be watching very closely is india. one of china's largest trading partners. a rather unequal relationship. exports -- giant -- a three-time is from china to india. apparently the religious has been improving recently. trade ministers left where china assured india of greater market access. let's listen to what the indian finance minister has been saying about that relationship. >> china is an important country for india. they are a neighbor. they are the largest trading

partner. and we remain engaged. at the same time, continue trying to create a balance because there is an adverse balance of trade, and we are seeking market access to companies -- in be in pharmaceuticals. i hope it will happen. >> slightly closer to home for us. we heard about the european growth forecast plummeting. what can they do and what and the european central bank can do about it with interest rates? >> we will be hearing from the ecb in about a half an hour's time. the expectation is they are going to keep interest rates steady at 0.75%. more interestingly will be what mario draghi actually says after that meeting, whether he will address the wider issue of being in a recession at the moment and how the bond purchasing scheme will play out in practical terms. against all of that we had these out the last 10 minutes from the bank of england, they said they will keep interest rates in the

u.k. steady at 0.5% and also no more quantitative easing. that is largely due to a stronger than expected " we saw here in the u.k. third quarter -- stronger than expected growth. in the context of the resin and a recession -- i spoke to a chief european economist any maand-- >> the press conference in particular, mario draghi -- when he starts changing his communication style, particularly focusing on the more general problem facing the eurozone which is that the region is in recession. up until now the emphasis has been on greece, and with spain, the bailout, and what happens if spain is in the bailout and how does it operate in practice. the more general is now the region is not a recession and could be back in serious

recession. >> in about 20 minutes we will have the results from the ecb and we will be waiting to see the -- hear what mario draghi says. >> thank you very much, indeed. nearly a week after super storm sandy, residents in new york and new jersey are having to face more misery. a new storm has caused heavy rain, snow, and wins also up to 95 kilometers an hour. tens of thousands of people did lose power because of sandy, and they have found themselves plunged straight back into darkness. many forced to leave their homes. public transport affected as well. major airlines cancelled flights in and out of new york and new jersey ahead of the storm. not a pretty picture. joining me to talk a little bit about the storm is our bbc whether presenter, ben rich. disasters -- how it must hit the heart. >> in the context of the north american winter storms, it is

actually not anything to write home about but there are a few things that make it notable. one, how early in the season it is. it is something we normally expect in winter. and also, it has hit the same areas that were strongly affected by hurricane sandy. it has been pushing up the east coast the last few days and really has been making its presence felt in new york and new jersey. along the coast, when gusts of 50-60 miles an hour. heavy rain. snowfall, four inches in new york, which is pretty early in the season for that. and a cold, miserable feel -- wind chills, gales. >> one lady from long island said the trouble is it might not be the worst gale and the world, if some wood is through the window -- we got to get out of there. they are thinking, should we move? >> the good news for that part of the world is things are really coming down now.

an area of low pressure will push its way to the northeast. still thursday, seeing what and when the weather across new england and snow. you can see on the satellite, that is where the storm was earlier, running its way up the east coast. you can see the general direction of travel up to the northeast. that will continue to track a way to the northeast. it will bring some heavy rain, snow across eastern canada and as i mentioned, parts of newington through the coming days. when it clears the way we will see a ridge of high pressure and warm conditions as well for the east coast. temperatures in new york stock in single figures. toward the teens going through the weekend. at the same time, an area of low pressure through the northern plains that will bring some snow there and cold weather for the west of the u.s.. but at least for the areas hit by hurricane sandy and looks much quiet -- quieter. >> an early start the winter is coming. >> absolutely, yes.

>> thank you very much, indeed, for bringing us up to date on that. the piano played by mozart almost every day in the decade before he died has temporarily return to his former home for the first time in 200 years. ♪ still gives a good tune. the russian pianist had the honor of playing the instrument in front of a small audience in the house in downtown vienna. the piano was bought by mozart after moving to be an act in 1781 and was used by him for concerts' as well as for practice. a reminder of our main story -- the 18th, this party congress is under way in china, marking the start of the country's once a decade leadership change. thanks for being with us. plenty more still to come.

>> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers use their expertise in global finance to guide you through the business strategies and opportunities of international commerce. we put our extended global network to work for a wide range of companies, from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you? >> bbc world news was presented by kcet los angeles.

[ applause ] china in transition.